


Why would you lie to me like that?

by Deathshandx



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-07 13:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1120660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deathshandx/pseuds/Deathshandx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean being devastated  by the death of his best friend Marco, he later ends up finding out a shocking twist on what really happened. This takes place two years after Marco's canon death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The start of it all.

**Author's Note:**

> There may be spoilers on whom the colossal titan and armored titan are, so be wary of spoilers when reading. Also this is a WiP fic, this will not be the final chapter. Please leave constructive criticism!

Jean stood in the empty street, staring down at the same spot he had found Marco's corpse two years ago. The details were still so vivid to him, as he stared down at the now empty spot, he could picture it all over again. The way Marco's lifeless body laid against the wall, as if it had been placed there, as if it all had been some cruel joke being played on him. Jean closed his eyes to prevent tears from leaking out of them "Dammit, Marco." he whispered to himself. All the gruesome details were now coming back to him as he dropped onto his knees. The smell, oh that revolting stench of titan vomit mixed with rotting flesh and human blood, his nose cringed at the very thought of that smell. What hurt him the most was how lifeless Marco had looked, he had always been the happiest of the whole squad, and his body was so... sad. Jean couldn't take it anymore, he hated to admit it but he missed Marco, he missed him a lot. 

Looking up towards the sky, Jean gave a small smile knowing that Marco was watching over him "I'll win for you, Marco. I'll fight for you". He twirled a small piece of his hair in his hand as he stared up into the sky. His lips started moving, making a pledge. "I swear, I will fight and win for you Marco. I will never give up, not after what you put me through, you bastard." he let a small chuckle escape from his lips "I promise, I wont let you down again Marco, i couldn't save you from your death, but i wont die young like you did. I will fight in your name." Letting go of the piece of his hair, he grinned to himself "and i promise, one day i will be with you again." 

Looking up at the sun, he noticed that it was about mid-day and he had been gone for nearly half of the day, sitting here mourning over his best friend. Deciding that his squad would notice his absence by now, he turned and started walking back to Headquarters. Although he didn't really care about what his squad thought, he really didn't want to get caught not working by his Commander. He was supposed to be on cleaning duty, but here he was walking through empty streets. Letting out a heavy sigh, Jean cautiously pushed open the doors to Headquarters. 

Slowly entering the building, he went and grabbed the nearest rag and began to wipe the windows. Muttering to himself about how stupid this was. "This is fucking stupid " he growled to himself, vigorously wiping the window down with little to no effort. 

"What was that you just said?" 

Jean jumped and turned around to face Commander Levi and immediately saluted him "Nothing sir!" 

Levi glared at him "Weren't you supposed to be cleaning the basement...?" 

Jean's face flashed to one of fear as he mentally swore himself "...Yes...sir." 

"Then why arent you doing that?" 

"I...uh..." Jean was trying to find an excuse "Eren said i wasn't needed down there so i came up here." 

"Are you sure that's the reason?" Levi's glare was fixated on him as if to tell him 'if youre lying ill kill you' 

"I..." 

"Were you visiting that spot again?" Levi's voice turned soft as he said this

Jean nodded slowly, he had only told Levi about this, because he knew what it was like to lose someone close to you. 

"You're off cleaning duty for today, but you will have double the work tomorrow, understand?" 

"Yes sir. Thank you." Jean gave Levi a small nod before heading out the door. 

He really just didn't want to deal with anyone else today, or anything else as a matter of fact. Slowly he made his way towards the capitol, knowing at least a few of his old friends had went into Military Police. Well, at least Annie had, and he had gotten along with her a bit. However he knew that if Annie was there, Bertholdt and Reiner were most likely to be hanging out with her. He really just needed to be away from everyone in his squad, he really didn't mind Annie that much, even though he knew she was the female titan. She had ended up being submitted to the Military Police and thrown in prison though, sometimes he would go and talk to her to try and cheer her up, since you know they were in training together and he considered her a tolerable acquaintance. Which is exactly what he planned to do now. 

Just as Jean was about to walk down the stairs to Annie's cell, he heard footsteps and voices approaching. Ducking behind a few boxes he waited until whoever they were went down the stairs. Who would be visiting Annie at a time like this? There was hardly anyone who would want to see her. Leaning against the door, he tried to listen in on whom exactly it was. From what he could make out, there were two male voices then Annie's voice. 

"When will the plan be put into action?" the first male voice spoke up

"Soon." Annie's voice had a toxic tone to it "You'll need to get bodt back here soon." 

"Yes Ma'am. Then we will commence in breaking the next wall?" The second male voice was speaking now

"Correct. Did you really think these chains would hold me forever?" there was a soft chuckle at the end of that sentence

Jean's face scrunched up in confusion, what the fuck was going on. 

"You will go and retrieve the bodt boy after we are done speaking." 

There wasn't really much more that Jean could make out, since they were now speaking in hushed tones. He was honestly confused, bodt... wasn't that Marco's last name? There was something not right about this, they were talking as if Marco was still alive. Jean backed away from the door, shaking his head slowly in denial, there was no way Marco could still be alive. Trying to clear his thoughts, Jean started to focus on what was really happening, they were planning to break down the wall which could've only meant that whoever those two men were involved in it somehow. He knew he had to do something to stop them, perhaps follow them and find out exactly who they were? Yeah, that would work. 

Hearing the footsteps come back up the stairs, Jean rushed over to the boxes and proceeded to hide behind them again. Peeking out to see exactly whom he was dealing with, he froze. His jaw practically dropped upon seeing Bertholdt and Reiner walking side by side. Okay, it couldn't be them right? They were good guys, there was no way they were siding with Annie. Completely forgetting that he was going to go talk to Annie, he turned all his attention to Bertholdt and Reiner. Jean actually followed them, he wanted to find out what was up and nothing was going to stop him, even if those two were intimidating. Cautiously, he followed them out of the building and towards the stables.

Bertholdt grabbed the reins of one of the Horses, and Reiner grabbed another Horse's reins, both of them mounting the horses. Waiting until they had gotten a bit distanced from him, Jean got on his own horse and kept a safe pace after them. For the most part, he followed them through the town. However, after half an hour of following them through town, they changed their course. Curiously Jean followed them out of the gate and into the titan territory, feeling a bit nervous going through here. He had absolutely no back up and if a titan caught him here he'd have to try and out-run it, he was in open territory and that terrified him. Out of the corner of his eye he could spot a 15meter class a good distance away, he silently prayed that it wouldn't notice him and would stay where it was. 

Turning his attention back to Bertholdt and Reiner in front of him, he kept himself concentrated on following them, his eyes widened as they picked up their pace, they were seemingly in a hurry. Speeding himself up, Jean entered the forest after Reiner and Bertholdt, trying to keep after them through the twists and turns of the forest. Trying not to lose sight of them whilst dodging all these big ass trees. Swerving around a tree, he lost his sight of the two for a few seconds before quickly regaining it. They weren't going to escape from him now, he couldn't let them escape. He had to ask them questions about what happened and he wasn't going to let this opportunity fall through his hands, it could be a risk to humanity if he did. 

Reiner nodded to Bertholdt and they both separated, one going left and one going right. They had obviously known Jean was following them and had this planned. Get the poor idiot lost in the forest and make him end up as titan food. Jean slowed down his pace, confused as to whom he should follow. Coming to a complete stop in the middle of the forest, he sighed to himself and dismounted his horse. "Great going Jean, you lost both of them" he smacked his head against a tree and kept it there. Not only had he ended up losing the two, he had gotten himself lost in the process."Just leave me here to die, real nice of you guys!" he yelled out, hoping that one of the two would've heard him. 

The zipping of 3DMG could be heard and Bertholdt and Reiner appeared in front of Jean. 

"S-Sorry about this... Jean" Bertholdt nervously stammered 

"About what?" Jean eyed the two, visibly aggravated. 

"Leaving you here to die.." the tall male responded 

Jean drew his blades from his 3DMG "I'm not going down without a fight."

Reiner looked over to Bertholdt "Should we run the plan now?" 

Bertholdt nodded as they both turned on their heels "Sorry Jean.." he muttered before the two of them disappeared into the forest. 

The sound of titan's walking could be heard causing Jean to freeze in fear. There was no way he was just going to surrender to the titans, he would go down fighting, it was what Marco would've wanted, wasn't it? He wasn't going to die here and now, he couldn't, he had to live on. Turning to face the source of the noise, multiple titans emerged from the forest. There was a 4 meter class and two 7 meter classes. Okay, easy right? He could easily beat these with no problem. He was frozen though, unable to move.. there was an overwhelming fear over him, just like there had been that day he saw his comrades getting killed during the invasion of Trost. He stared down at the ground, his surroundings changing to fit his memories of that moment, completely fazing him from reality. 

It was too late before he realized that a titan had picked him up already, dangling him in the air. He kicked about, trying to get it to let go of him "Let go of me goddamit!" he yelled at the titan, pounding his fists on the titan's hand. It was in that moment he felt himself drop.


	2. A sudden revealation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean finds out the truth about what happened to Marco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to read Chapter One first if you haven't read it.  
> TRIGGER WARNING: Some hints at suicide in this one.

Jean felt himself drop, closing his eyes as he was suspended mid-air. He was prepared for the worst, being eaten alive by these things just like Marco had. After a few seconds of not feeling the wetness of a titan's mouth, he opened his eyes. Looking around he saw the titan that had grabbed him collapsed on the floor. 'Shit' he thought to himself as he fumbled around with his 3D maneuver gear, trying to latch onto something before he hit the floor. Latching onto one of the nearby trees, he propelled himself onto one of the branches, looking down at where he just was. There were the corpses of the three titans that had approached him, still steaming as if they had recently died. Looking around, he found a bigger titan standing to the side, it's back towards him. It somewhat resembled Eren in a way, but there was no way that it was Eren, so who or what exactly was it? It could've just been an aberrant, but he had a different feeling about this titan. 

Making his way through the trees until he was closer to it, he tried to get a good look at its face, but the titan hung its head. Jean let out a small growl of annoyance, this titan obviously didn't want to be recognized, but he wanted to know whom it was. Landing on the branch directly in front of it, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Oi!" he called out to it "Aren't you going to attack me or something?" he waited to see if it would, which would prove it being just any other titan. After waiting some time, he sat down on the branch, crossing his legs, this titan was obviously abnormal in some way. Why wasn't it attacking him, and why didn't it want to be seen? That's when it hit him, his eyes widened upon realizing this. "Y-you're a shifter.... aren't you?" he muttered whilst staring down at the titan below him. 

This caused a flinch from the titan, signaling Jean that he was correct on this theory. Jean stood up, gripping his blades tightly "You're sided with them...you're going to destroy humanity, aren't you?" his tone had changed to one that was dark and threatening "If you're going to destroy humanity..." he took a deep breath, his eyes turning to the titan, full of fury and anger "I am going to have to destroy you". Hopping down on a branch that was just below the titan, he readied his 3D maneuver gear. However what happened next was not what he expected to happen, the titan slowly started to back up. "Where do you think you're going?" Jean yelled, jumping off the branch and activating his right trigger, he clung onto the titan's arm. Swinging around the titan and landing on its arm, he started to run up it towards the neck. The titan turned, trying to fling Jean off of it, taking its other arm and holding the back of its neck, it obviously didn't want to be killed. Jean had made his way to the shoulder the titan and looked up at it "Look at me! Show me your face, you coward!" The last word caused the titan to freeze completely. Slowly, the titan lifted its head, turning it to the side to face Jean. 

Jean's mouth opened in shock, he fell to his knees as he stared at the titan before him. The titan had dark black hair hanging over its face, and deep brown eyes. There was no flesh on its mouth, causing it to be just teeth held in place by a few stands of skin on each side connecting the lower jaw to the upper jaw. Half of the titan's face had what looked like burn scars on it, making the flesh weld together in an disordered fashion. The other half being nearly flawless, with no burn scars of distorted flesh. There was a sympathetic look on the titans face as it stared at Jean, knowing just exactly what he was going through at the moment, what his thoughts were. The titan in a strange way resembled Jean's friend, Marco. From the way his eyes were sympathetic and caring, and that exact shade of brown that shined with an undertone of happiness, to the dark hair that hung over his head, coming out in a way that was exactly like Marco's. The burn scars and the way there was no flesh around the titans mouth reminded Jean of exactly how Marco had looked when he died. 

Jean gripped his hair tightly in his hands, tears falling down his face at what he was looking at. This titan perfectly resembled his dead friend, and it was freaking him out a bit. He really couldn't believe what he was seeing right now, he was in shock. His mind was completely scrambled right now with what he was seeing. There was no way Marco could be a shifter, right? He was dead, yeah he was dead there was no way this was Marco. He was probably just seeing things. He cautiously opened his mouth, his voice trembling and uneven "M-Marco....Is that you...?" he felt stupid asking, but he had to. He stared at the titan awaiting a response, tears still streaming down his face, but at a slower pace now. 

The titan slowly opened its mouth, trying to respond but no words coming out. Inside the nape of it's neck, the person inside shifted, trying to get out. Slowly removing its free hand from the nape of its neck, it pointed to the neck as if trying to ask Jean to cut him open. Jeans view shifted from the titan's face to its arm, trying to understand what it meant by pointing to the nape of its neck. Thinking back to when he saw Eren as a titan, he tried to put the pieces together. Usually cutting open the nape of the neck would allow you to see who was inside, and get them out. If that was the case here, Jean would need to be careful which wasn't really his forte. Standing up, he pressed the trigger on his 3D maneuver gear and hooked himself onto the nape of the titan's neck. Pressing his blade against the nape of the neck, he slowly cut into it, running the blade carefully across the flesh of the titan. The flesh opened slowly as more cuts were made,the upper torso of whomever was inside was now visible. Running his blades across the strands of flesh welding with the person in control, he managed to free their upper torso.

Sheathing his blades, he grabbed the person and pulled them out completely, holding their body against his own. Not even bothering to look at who is was, he tightened his grip on the person before jumping down to ground level. Dropping the person onto the floor, he stared down at them, awaiting a response "are you Marco?" his voice was still a bit ragged from how he had cried earlier.

The person looked upwards at him, allowing Jean to decide for himself. 

Jean stared down at him "M...Marco...?" his eyes were wide as he looked at him. 

Marco gave his genuine smile "Yeah...It's me Jean." 

Jean took a deep breath, taking in all the features of his friend. He was... alive, and looked just as he had before he had "died". Except he did look a bit older, his features becoming more attractive than they already were. "Marco.." he breathed out "Why...?" 

"What do you mean by that?" Marco's head tilted to the side.

Jean balled his fists, anger overcoming him "Why would you do this to me?" 

"Do what to you?"

"Make me believe you were dead!" his voice was on the point of breaking as he screamed "I wanted to believe that it wasn't true. My only friend was proclaimed dead and i didn't know how to cope with it!" he took a deep, shaky breath as he continued berating Marco. "Do you know how many times i tried to get myself killed by those titans so that i could finally be with you?"

"Jean, I-" Marco was cut off by more screaming 

"Do you? A total of thirty-seven times i tried to put myself in harms way so i could be with you. It took me two years to finally stop denying you were dead and try to recover from your death." 

"S-" Marco couldn't get any words out as he continued to listen to Jean's screaming, there was a huge frown on his face. 

"I cried myself to sleep every night because i missed you." he spoke softly now instead of screaming at Marco "I didn't know what to do with myself after i lost you, Marco. I hardly talked to anyone because i was trying to keep myself together emotionally."

Marco slowly stood up and put his hand on Jean's shoulder, not saying a single word, allowing Jean to continue talking."

"I missed you a lot Marco... i tried to accept you had died but i couldn't. I was so lonely..." Jean tried to keep himself composed as he explained this "i kept returning to the spot where i found your body, and i would swear to live on for the both of us." At this point Jean couldn't control it anymore as he broke into tears "I lost everything because of you, Marco." 

"Jean.." was all Marco could mutter out, trying to process all of this. He had actually caused pain to Jean which was the last thing he wanted to do. 

"I went through depression because of losing you Marco. When you died.. a piece of me did as well." The hot tears streamed down Jean's face as his breathing became shaky. 

Marco stared at Jean, this isn't what he wanted to happen "Jean, I am so sorry." 

"Sorry wont work Marco. All the pain you put me through...I don't know if I can recover from it." 

Marco leaned in to give Jean a hug, but was stopped by Jean putting his hand out. "Marco...all i want to know is...why would you do this? Why put me through this?"

Marco stopped and stared at Jean "I didn't mean to..." 

"Then what exactly did you mean to do? Because you broke me, Marco." 

"I didn't want to end up hurting you, Jean. I promise you that."

"Marco...I don't think you understand how much you ended up hurting me." 

"Tell me." Marco tightened his grip on Jean's shoulder.

"Tell you what?" 

"How much I hurt you."

Jean breathed slowly "I tried to..." he shook his head annoyed with himself, he didn't want Marco to feel bad and it hurt talking about this to anyone. 

"Jean....Tell me. Please." 

"Please, don't get upset."

"I wont, I promise." Marco gave Jean a small smile to reassure him. 

"I tried to....end it....i wanted to get rid of my own life. Just, anything to see you. I was too much of a coward to though. I became depressed..." he closed his eyes as more tears came out, expecting Marco to be upset with him.

Marco stared at Jean, a confused but hurt expression on his face. Mentally he was beating himself up for doing this to Jean. Slowly he reached his free hand up and pushed away Jean's hand, embracing Jean in a hug. His arms were wrapped around Jean's smaller frame, even after all these years he was still a few inches taller than Jean. Marco rested his head on top of Jean's head, a sigh escaping his lips. "Are you still thinking about that stuff, Jean? You know... hurting yourself, and wanting to end it."

Jean stopped breathing for a moment as soon as he was asked that question "Y-yes...I'm sorry Marco. I'm so sorry." he buried his face in Marco's shirt, allowing muffled sobs to escape his lips. 

"And are you still depressed after those two years?"

"Y-yes." jean managed to mutter between sobs. 

Marco ran his hand through Jean's hair, his eyes staring at Jean lovingly. His voice was soft and full of care as he spoke "I promise to help you with that, Jean. I broke you, I should be the one to fix you." 

Jean just broke down more as he heard those words "This is all a dream... isn't it?"

"No Jean...It's real." 

Jean went completely quiet this time, bringing his hands up to wrap them around Marco, pulling himself closer into Marco. His breathing started to even out as he stood there, nuzzling his face into Marco's shirt. Marco continued to run his hands through Jean's hair in hopes of calming him down, since it always used to work before. Marco smiled as he felt Jean breathing against him, it was nice to comfort him, it was the least he could do for him. Slowly, Marco dragged Jean down onto the ground with him, his arms still around Jean. Sitting cross legged on the ground, Marco relaxed a bit, smiling and closing his eyes, taking in as much of this moment with Jean as he could. Jean situated himself in Marco's lap, his head pressed against Marco's chest. 

Closing his eyes, Jean felt at home right now, sitting here leaning against Marco, he could hear the beat of Marco's heart if he were quiet enough. Jean actually felt happy for once in those two years without Marco. He felt alive for the first time in a long time, and it felt amazing to feel alive, he felt as though he could stay like this forever, cuddled up against Marco. 

"Jean.." Marco whispered, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" 

"Shouldn't we be getting back to the wall?"

Jean stopped in realization "You're right." He had completely forgotten that he was in Titan territory, he had gotten lost in Marco. "I only have one horse though...So you'll have to sit behind me." 

"That's fine" Marco said with a small smile. 

Jean pulled himself away from Marco, standing up and offering him a hand which Marco took. Walking over to his horse, he hopped on looking at Marco. Marco got on behind Jean and nodded at him "You can go now." 

Jean grabbed the Reins of the horse and took off towards the direction he presumed the wall was "This way right?" 

"mmhm, you're going the right way." 

Noddin a small thanks to Marco and continuing on that way at an even pace. Jean kept looking left and right as if expecting a Titan to pop up somewhere and attack them. Although he was pretty sure that the trees would be able to conceal the two long enough to get them out of the forest. At least that's what he hoped for, because right now he couldn't deal with a Titan, he wanted to make sure that Marco got back to the wall safe and neither of them got harmed in the process. Jean nearly jumped when he felt Marco's hands on him. Marco had snaked his hands under Jean's arms, resting his hands directly on his crotch, earning a small jump from Jean, making him chuckle "Don't worry Jean, I'm just making sure I stay on the horse." Jean couldn't help but blush a bit at where Marco's hands were, not to mention that Marco had his head rested on his shoulder, leaning slightly into Jean. 

Jean turned his attention from Marco to the path in front of him, they were just now exiting the forest so he had to be fully aware of his surroundings. His thoughts started to wonder though, if he was initially meant to be killed by Reiner and Bertholdt, and Marco had saved him, what exactly would happen when they saw him back within the walls? Not to mention the fact that Marco was now with him, everyone would be confused and start asking questions. It was at this point that Jean silently swore to himself that he wouldn't let Marco slip away from him again, he would protect him and watch over him every minute of every day. Jean was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps, gigantic footsteps. 

Turning his head to look behind him Jean's eyes widened, oh great he was being followed by one of those damned things. Slightly kicking the horse he sped up his pace of the horse into a full run, all he needed to do was outrun this thing and everything would be okay. His attention was focused mainly on the road ahead of him and trying to find some way to throw it off of their trail. Marco's arms tightened against Jean as he tried to make sure that he stayed with Jean even if the Titan got close. Jean could sense how scared Marco was by the tightness of his grip, which was making it extremely uncomfortable for Jean. 

In the distance Jean could see a group of people making their way deeper into the titan's territory on horses. Assuming it was the survey corps, he swiftly turned his horse in the direction they were in and began riding off towards them. It was a small group of people, about four or so, and he wasn't sure why they would send so little people out on an expedition. The titan was still hot on their trail and he made his way to the group of people. 

"Oi!" He shouted to them as he continued riding "Titan incoming!" He yelled again, trying to get their attention. 

He could see the figures stop and turn over in his direction. They immediately started to make their way to him. They were a mere 100 meters away and he could vaguely make out whom they were, but he was sure it was Mikasa, Eren, Levi, and Armin. Two of the figures jumped off their horses, pulling out their blades and running towards the titan while the other two whom stayed on horses made their way to the side of the titan, earning its attention. Jean stopped his own horse once the titan was focused on the other two. He grabbed Marco's hand, slowly removing it from his body "Marco. Stay here and yell if you get caught in a troubling situation, okay?" he looked back at Marco, a small smile on his lips as he stared at his best friend "I can't lose you again, so stay put." Marco nodded simply at Jean, watching as Jean got off the horse and drew his blades. 

Jean looked over at the other two off their horses, Mikasa and Levi. This should be easy then if it were those two and himself up against this one titan "Why are you guys out here?" Jean called over to them as they ran together towards the titan. 

"Search expedition for you." Levi replied bluntly. 

Jeans face scrunched up in confusion, had he really been gone that long? Oh well, he turned his attention to the titan that was moving slowly after Eren and Armin. He was approaching it and the grip on his sword handles tightened. He would kill this titan, then he would return to the walls with Marco and then he could watch over him and protect him like he said he would. Pressing the trigger on his 3D maneuver gear he managed to get a grip on the Titan's lower back, he gave some gas and began whizzing through the air towards the titan. His eyes widened as he saw a blur pass him, Mikasa was already nearly on the titan and had a perfect grip secured onto the nape of its neck, she readied her blades and gave a quick slice, causing the titan to fall just as Jean had approached it. Levi had been standing back watching the performance and mentally scoring the both of them. 

Armin and Eren approached the body of the titan. 

"Great job, Mikasa" Eren and Armin both said at the same time 

"It was easy." she said with a shrug and began walking back to where her horse was. 

Jean stood there dumbfounded at what had just happened, with a sigh he walked back over to his own horse where Marco was waiting patiently. Managing to get onto the horse without making Marco move, he sat atop his horse. "Are we leaving now?" he asked.

Eren looked over towards Jean "Of course we are... wait, whose that with you?" he pointed to the pair of hands that were resting around Jean's waist already. 

"None of your business, Jaeger." Jean gave Eren a slight glare. 

"I want to know though." Eren responded, staring at Jean.

"It's not concerning you." 

"Still, i want to know."

"You dont need to know."

"I do, however." Levi's voice cut off their bickering as he stared at Jean "Who are you with, Kirstein?"

Jean shifted uncomfortably "Well...You know those two years ago when we were just fresh out of training and were sent to fend off the titans?" he took a small breath before going on "you know those that died...Marco was one of them."

"I asked you a simple question." Levi interrupted him.

"Yeah well..." Jean swallowed his spit, trying to think how to word this. 

"I'm not Dead." Marco said, propping his head on Jean's shoulder, a smile across his face. 

Everyone except for Jean froze, staring at the freckled boy. They seemed to be in shock by the expression on their faces. The silence was deadly, nobody was talking and Jean was holding his breath, waiting for word form Commander. 

"Kirstein, Bodt..." Levi began "You two are expected in my office once we get back. I have some things to go over with you two." 

Jean nodded "Yes sir. We both will be there." 

With that, Levi got on his own horse and waved his hand, signaling for them all to move out. They formed into a small formation, Levi in the lead, with Jean directly behind him, Armin was positioned behind Jean, and Mikasa and Eren were on either side of Jean. It was as if they had been specifically arranged this way to keep Marco safe, which made Jean smile a bit. Marco shifted, pressing his body against Jean's, trying to make himself and Jean more comfortable. The ride from the point where they were wasn't too long at all compared to the amount of time Jean had been out. 

Returning to the city, Levi dismissed Armin, Mikasa, and Eren. He turned to Marco and Jean "Follow me to my office." he began leading them towards the Headquarters. Jean's face was a sickly pale, he was not prepared for any type of questioning and in the worst situation, Marco would probably be thrown into jail like Eren had been. Jean sighed, he was letting his worries get to him. All he had to focus on now was answering questions and then he would be okay.


	3. The interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi interviews Jean and Marco. Jean finds out something about Marco he didnt know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being late, i had school work that i was caught up with, tests and such. Also have some cute JeanMarco stuff as apology. There'll most likely be another chapter out this weekend though.

Levi sat on his chair with one leg crossed over the other, staring across the table at both Jean and Marco, whom were each in their own chairs. His eyes were cold as he stared at the two of them, pondering over what he should ask the two of them. He wanted to get all information on what exactly happened with Marco and why he was still alive, because this was too odd to be true.

"Explain." was simply all he said.

Marco looked over towards Jean “Should I explain or…?”

Jean nodded at Marco, giving him the go to explain everything, he wanted to know as well just what exactly happened.

Marco shakily took a deep breath. “Well…two years ago, when the titans broke the wall, i got separated from everyone. Then just before i was about to be killed by a Titan, Annie saved me. She told me that i would keep quiet about it or she would kill me and i didn’t know what she meant by that and then…” Marco's voice trailed off as tears pricked in the corners of his eyes, recalling the memories of when happened.

"And then?" Levi asked, suddenly interested in what happened.

"Everything went black and i could feel my hands being tied up. I was being taken somewhere but i didn’t know where. They made it look like i had died, but i hadn’t. I got locked up in some building, with chains holding me against a wall, giving me little room to move."

"And Annie did this to you?" Levi questioned in response.

"Yes. They also…" Marco suddenly frowned, remembering just exactly what they had done to them "They tortured me. Beating me until i couldn’t remember anything and blacked out."

Jean’s expression changed to one of anger “They beat you?” he growled through clenched teeth, suddenly aggravated at the fact that anyone could do that to Marco.

Marco nodded in response to Jean before continuing, "They did it so i would listen to them, because i was trying to fight until i got out of there. Eventually they crushed my spirit, i couldn't even remember anyone i had trained with, or anyone back here. All their faces became so vague to me, and all i could remember was their laughter and faces of amusement as i was being hit repeatedly. I was barely given any food, as they wanted to keep me weak so i wouldn't try to escape." 

Taking a deep breath before continuing, Marco began to speak again “They injected me with some type of liquid, I’m not sure what exactly it was....”

Levi stared at Marco, pondering what to do next. He should probably put Marco in prison until they know he’s safe, although he wanted to know what the purposes of kidnapping Marco was. Deciding to allow Marco to continue on with his story, he listened patiently.

"The injections kept coming day after day, and then one day everything went black and i couldn't see anything, it felt like i was trapped somewhere. The last thing i remember after that was hearing Jean yelling at me, then i was finally in my senses and he helped me stop being trapped."

Levi nodded in response, then turned to Jean “is this true? Did he save you?”

"Well…a titan did, which had him in the nape of its neck, like how Eren usually ends up"

"So Marco is a shifter, correct?"

"I believe so." Jean said in response to yet another question.

"Can we trust him?"

"Of course we can, he’s the most trustworthy guy i know."

"Are you sure though?" Levi questioned, knowing that what had happened when they first could trust Eren, and everything messed up after that. 

"I am pretty sure we can." Jean stared hard at Levi, knowing exactly what he was thinking "There is no way you are going to even imprison Marco, if that's what you're thinking. He is nothing like that Jaeger brat." 

Letting out a sigh, Levi stared at Jean "How do you know what happened in Trost wont happen again?" 

"I don't. I am sure though that Marco wouldn't do something like that."

"We were sure Eren wouldn't, and he ended up almost killing Mikasa because we trusted him too much." 

"Marco wouldn't do that!" Jean growled, standing up in his seat. 

"What proof do you have?" 

"I know him, he has been my best friend since we started training. He isn't like Eren.." 

"How is he not like Eren? They both are shifters, correct?" 

Jean froze and thought over his next words "Eren is a natural shifter... right? Marco was forced into it." 

"Was Eren not forced into it by his father?" Levi questioned yet again.

"Levi..." Jean hissed "You are not going to put him in jail, do you understand?"

"What's stopping me from doing it, Jean?" 

Opening his mouth to speak, Jean shut it before thinking then answering properly "I will watch over him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Does that make you happy?" 

Levi sighed "Alright. While you do that, I will start trying to find out what is going on with Annie." 

Marco seemed a bit startled by all these questions, of course he could be trusted, right? It wasn't like he had killed a man or anything, and this wasn't exactly his fault that he was a shifter. That was the last thing he wanted to be, a shifter, and he had ended up as one. He actually felt disgusted with himself with how he had ended up as one of those, he was meant to fight them, not be one. While Marco was thinking, he was staring at his own hands put out in front of his face, a look of horror and disgust on his face. Jean lightly shook Marco, pulling him out of his thinking.

"Levi said we’re free to go, Marco." Jean was already standing and stared down at Marco offering him a hand. Marco simply nodded in Response, grabbing Jean’s hand and pulling himself up. Jean stared up at Marco as he stood a few inches taller than him, his hand still grabbing onto Marco’s. His eyes scanned over Marco’s face, taking in every feature of the boy, the way his hair fell and how his freckles dotted across his face. Realizing that his hand was still holding onto Marco’s hand, he let go and moved away from Marco, a light pink dust on his cheeks from how close the two had been. Pushing the door open, he quickly walked down the hall, not even caring if Marco was following behind him or not. He was too confused about what he had just done to even face Marco.

Pressing his weight against the wall of the building and crossing his arms over his chest, Jean leaned against the wall alone, trying to think over what just happened. It was probably nothing being that close to Marco, just a small moment with no meaning behind it. Closing his eyes, Jean started to think over everything that Marco had told Levi. He was extremely pissed over the fact that Marco had been beat by them, it sickened him and just made him even more aggravated. Poor Marco, probably had scars from that, his body ruined because of them. He swore he would get back at them for hurting Marco, for hurting his best friend. Nobody deserved that, but of all people Marco hadn't deserved it at all, he was nothing but sweet and helpful and they broke him. Putting a frown on his face in annoyance, he clenched his fists, really bothered over the fact that all this had happened and the whole time he had been blaming himself for Marco being dead. 

Jean slowly sunk against the wall of the building, pressing his head into his hands. Goddamit. He was so frustrated with himself for not being able to deal with life without Marco being there. He always used to brush it off as there was nothing he could do about it because Marco was dead. Everything was so different now, the past two years had been a complete lie for him. If he had just tried, he would've been able to save Marco, he was so stupid for even believing that he had been killed, he was too good to have died, and Jean knew that, but he fell for the stupid trick played by Annie. Rubbing his eyes before any tears of frustration could come out, he took in a deep breath of air, eventually calming himself down. Running one of his hands through his hair, Jean looked up to see Marco standing above him, staring down at him. 

"Jean..." Marco spoke softly "are you alright?" 

Jean slowly nodded, pulling himself to a standing position "I'm fine, Marco." 

Marco tilted his head slightly "Are you sure? You ran out of there pretty quickly." Marco motioned to one of the doors to the building with his hand. 

Jean nodded "Yeah. Im fine." he gave Marco a weak smile before looking him up and down "Do you... have scars?" 

"Scars?"

"From what happened to you...you know..." he didnt want to directly speak about it. 

"Oh..." marco looked downwards slightly "Uh... yeah.... i do." 

Jean stared at Marco "Come with me." he said before grabbing Marco's sleeve and practically dragging him off towards his destination. 

Earning angry protests from Marco, Jean continued to drag him to what seemed like a weird destination. Jean tried his best to avoid being seen by anyone as he walked around the building. Making his way to the room section of the building, Jean's eyes scanned the hallway for anyone else. Once he was sure that there was nobody around, he opened the door to his room, pulling the two of them inside. Slamming the door once the both of them were in, he stared at Marco. 

"Where are your scars?" 

"On my chest, mainly. why?" 

"Let me see them, please." Jean sat down on the bed, gesturing for Marco to sit down next to him. 

Marco took a seat next to Jean on the bed, fidgeting nervously with his buttoned shirt, unsure if he should show jean the scars or not. "Why do you want to see them...?"

"To make sure its nothing serious." 

"Oh...I guess i could show you then." Slowly unbuttoning the buttons on his shirt top to bottom, Marco stared at Jean while doing so. 

Jean's face grew a deep shade of red as he stared at Marco's chest, there were some pretty well-built muscles, even though he was somewhat skinny. Slowly he took in the sight of Marco's chest as the shirt hung there, only exposing a bit of his chest. Marco slowly slipped the rest of the shirt off, in a manner that was extremely attractive to Jean. Slowly, Jean put a hand out, running it over Marco's chest, covering the small indents and marks that were on his chest. There were a few spots that were shades lighter than his skin tone, causing Jean to pause on them, brushing just his fingertips across those marks. Jean let out a heavy sigh, knowing exactly what those were scars from, it was only obvious. He had been cut by something in the past two years that was deep enough to leave marks. 

Turning his attention to the rest of Marco's chest, Jean stared at the freckles dotting down the side of Marco's body, Reaching out with his other hand, he traced his hand across the freckles, earning a small shiver from Marco. Stopping at Marco's hips, the other hand still on Marco's chest, Jean stared intently at his body, taking in all the small features. The way he had some freckled dotted across his chest, coming down towards his pants then stopping. Marco was watching Jean carefully, somewhat amused with the way Jean was reacting to all of this. Slowly Jean felt himself moving closer to Marco, practically face to face with him, he stared at Marco. 

Marco gave a small smile to Jean before letting out a soft chuckle "Jean..." he said quietly. 

"Y-yes marco?" 

"You're so cute when you're flustered like this." bringing one of his hands up, he twirled a piece of Jean's hair in his hand. 

Jean's face turned a brighter shade of red "Marco...dont say stuff like that." he pulled his hand away from Marco's chest and poked Marco's cheek. 

Marco let out a small laugh "why not?"

"because you know how i get with stuff like that." he let out a laugh himself, enjoying this, it was nice having his best friend back again.

"Yeah, i know." Marco grinned, taking his other hand and placing it on Jean's face. 

Jean immediately froze up at the action, staring upwards at Marco. 

Marco pressed his forehead against Jean's smiling and closing his eyes as he did so. 

Jean in turn closed his own eyes "It's good to have you back, Marco." he breathed out. 

"It's good to be back, Jean." Marco moved his hands around Jean's waist, embracing him in a tight hug. Their bodies were practically touching. 

Jean managed to somewhat snuggle his way into Marco's arms, missing the warmth of his friend after all these years. He could've kissed him right there and now, if it hadn't been for a knock at the door, which caused the two of them to jump at the sudden noise. Jean slowly slithered out of Marco's arms and made his way to the door while Marco tugged on his shirt and started buttoning it. Slightly opening the door, Jean looked at the person standing infront of him.

Commander Levi stood there, staring up at Jean "There's been an issue." there was a tone of seriousness in his voice.


End file.
